April 2021 – Academic Library of the Year Award!
Our challenges and resiliency did not go unnoticed. Our Library was awarded 2021 Academic Library of the year by the Rochester Regional Library Council (RRLC)!
Return to Campus and the new Fraser Hall Library – July 2021
While many library staff members were still working mainly from home—providing remote library instruction and research assistance, processing IDS requests, etc.—as the semester progressed some staff started to spend more time in their campus offices, settling in and getting used to providing socially distanced and masked service. In July 2021, along with the rest of campus, library staff returned to campus to work from their Fraser Hall offices.
College open to the public – August 2021
In August 2021, the College re-opened its public buildings and areas to the non-college public, and many of the Library’s “regulars” were very happy to be back using the facilities, accessing Special Collections materials, or just enjoying the atmosphere. Soon they would be able to borrow circulating materials as well. Books, DVDs, CDs, and the like from the Library’s circulating collection are available for loan simply by clicking on the “Pick Up at Fraser” button in GLOCAT to have them retrieved and held at the Service Desk for pickup. Although the book stacks are not open, users can still Browse..Read more and view photos
Library Research Instruction, Appointments, and Consultations
Research Instruction librarians are back to interacting in-person with students and other researchers, with drop-in research help hours Monday through Friday in Fraser 203A (the Research Instruction office) or by appointment (for more in-depth research assistance). The librarians are also providing in-the-classroom instruction again. Throughout our unprecedented events, our Research Instructions Librarians provided excellent service, whether remotely or in various temporary locations. From January 2020 through December 2021, our Librarians taught 481 Instruction sessions and had 1986 consultations, question sessions, and scheduled appointments.
WHERE WE ARE NOW (Fall 2021 Semester and Looking Ahead)
Fall 2021 finds Fraser Hall Library in nearly full operational mode: all the collections that were brought over from Milne in the spring are accessible; staff are interacting face-to-face (masked and socially distanced) with students, faculty, and each other; and students are filling the seats. Here we will continue to provide ever-improving service as, across the quad and up the hill a bit, the Milne Library building undergoes its major renovation, aiming for a truly grand reopening in Fall 2024. Fraser Hall Library Open House, February 2022 In the meantime, the Teacher Education Resource Collection (TERC) occupies the back section..Read more and view photos